FRANKFORD – The Frankford Board of Education was visited by a costumed guest at Monday night’s meeting.

“Aunt Sally”, of “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally” (or PEMDAS) fame, updated the board on the progress of fifth-grade math students in Frankford Township School by engaging the board in mathematical problem solving.

PEMDAS is a common mnemonic device utilized by math teachers to teach students the order of operations. What PEMDAS actually stands for is Parentheses, Exponents, Multiply, Divide, Add and Subtract.

“I had the opportunity of coming and visiting some great young mathematicians,” the vivacious and eclectically dressed “Aunt Sally” told the board.

Under the makeup and costume was Betsy Wermuth, intervenionist for Frankford’s fifth and sixth grades.

Hired at the start of the school year in September, Wermuth’s job is help children who are lagging behind in their studies and academic progress. When a child is showing signs of struggle in grasping concepts in either language arts or mathematics, Wermuth comes in and assists that child.

The costume “draws kids in, especially with kids who are struggling,” she said in an interview with the New Jersey Herald.

Aunt Sally visited the students on Jan. 7, according to Wermuth. In order to build anticipation for the visit, fifth-grade teacher Doug Post told his class that his Aunt Sally was coming to visit to assist the children in learning math concepts.

Wermuth, who is an everyday fixture in the fifth-grade class, said the students didn’t recognize her in costume.

It wasn’t until she started writing on the board that students saw the similarity in Aunt Sally’s and Wermuth’s handwriting.

In Wermuth’s portrayal of Aunt Sally to the board, she was humorous, which only added to the potential success of reaching young children through this avenue of learning.

According to Frankford Superintendent Braden Hirsch, the school adopted a new math program this year called “Math in Focus,” which is based on a Singapore math curriculum that has proven internationally successful for Singapore students. The program is also directly linked to the Common Core State Standards.

It’s hard to watch children struggle, Wermuth said, but the struggle is part of learning algebraic concepts, which are simplified for younger students.

After coming out of character, Wermuth said the board “should be pleased with the program and where it is headed.”

In other business, the board hired John Croot of Schwartz Simon Edelstein & Celso, LLC, located in Whippany, as attorney for the board.

Croot will be replacing former attorney Bruce Padula of Cleary Giacobbe Alfieri Jacobs, LLC. No reason, besides declining to renew the contract, was given by the board pertaining to the decision.